• Brandweek , Friday, August 15, 2008 10:15 AM

Prescription drug ads became less memorable for consumers between this year and last, according to new figures from Nielsen IAG. Six of the most-remembered ads this year would not have made it into the top 10 last year, based on IAG's recall index.

The drug ads consumers remembered best in 2007 were executions for Schering-Plough's allergy drug Nasonex, Takeda's sleeping pill Rozerem, Schering's anti-cholesterol brand Vytorin, Pfizer's anti-cholesterol brand Lipitor and its anti-smoking brand Chantix, and Sepracor's insomnia med Lunesta. But midway through 2008, all of those brands have run into controversy or economic difficulties, and some of them pulled much or their entire consumer advertising.

Creative strength also is an issue, according to Fariba Zamaniyan, IAG's svp for healthcare. The ads that were dialed back had strong, established characters, such as Jarvik or the Lunesta moth, and had been running for a long time. The current crop of ads, including spots for Pfizer's Lyrica and Warner Chilcott's Loestrin 24Fe, are simply less established than their predecessors.

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